


Realizations

by Cloverthirteen



Series: Franslim [2]
Category: A Bug's Life (1998)
Genre: Emotions, M/M, let francis swear, mentions of the other circus bugs, some headcanons abound
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-05 21:07:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21215087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloverthirteen/pseuds/Cloverthirteen
Summary: A sequel to The Night Visit, taking place after the end of the movie as the circus bugs leave Ant Island.





	Realizations

**Author's Note:**

> Note 3/15/20: When I first wrote this, I forgot that the end of the movie took place during the spring. I changed a few lines to reflect the passage of time between this fic and The Night Visit more accurately.

Heimlich being in a chrysalis wasn’t exactly a surprise. He had been planning it for months, eating up a storm, certain that he would suddenly know when to crawl off, attach himself to a leaf or a branch, and form himself a pupa. Though finding out that he had done this mere hours before the circus was expected to leave was a bit of a shock.

As it turned out, though, the time hadn’t been _ quite _right for him to pupate, and he had emerged unexpectedly right as the trailer was lifting off into the sky. Naturally, having been in his makeshift chrysalis for only a few hours, he looked almost exactly the same, save for a pair of malformed wings.

No one knew that he had snuck off, so everyone was thoroughly unprepared for his sudden emergence. Manny and Francis had to fly over to carry him up to the rising trailer. Deciding to humor him, they also carried Heimlich the entire rest of the way to their destination, making him believe he really was flying. They figured that Gypsy could explain everything to him later, and he could find a time to form a chrysalis for real.

Meanwhile, a certain stick bug was preoccupied with his own thoughts.

Given that Francis was busy during the entire flight, it gave Slim some time to think about what exactly it was that he wanted to say. Surely for an occasion like this, some sort of grand, romantic speech would be perfect. But he didn’t really have any way to write one down while riding on the airborne circus trailer. Maybe he could think of some things that he knew he wanted to say and go from there…?

“Okay! This’ll be our next venue, so we’re going down! Hold tight, everyone!”

Rosie’s voice suddenly broke through his thoughts. How far had they traveled? How long had it been since they left, while Slim was being distracted by thoughts of his--

_ Boyfriend? _

No, he didn’t think of him as that quite yet. What did he need, then? Some sort of confirmation?

But no time to think of that now--Dim was touching down with the trailer in a large, flat clearing surrounded by countless stalks of grass. In the distance, a fairly decent-sized town stood with houses made of tree bark. Slim hoped that the town’s residents wouldn’t be too put off by a circus tent suddenly appearing in the middle of a forest--one of their evening performances had been abruptly canceled in one strange location due to the bugs living there convinced that their circus trailer was some sort of demonic cask of bloodthirsty cicadas, come to destroy their town. (“Hillbillies,” P. T. Flea had said dismissively after the troupe had managed to escape from the pitchfork and match-wielding bugs.)

The trailer had landed smoothly and everyone was getting down and stretching their limbs. Francis and Manny had set down Heimlich, who was still a bit giddy from his “flight”, and were now chatting casually.

_ Should I wait for him to come over? But I still don’t know what to say… _

“Ah, actually, could you guys hold--no, I just need to talk to Slim for a minute, yeah, uh, see ya--”

What--oh, he was coming over here! What was Francis going to say? What would _ he _say? He still had no idea!

Even without his wings, Francis seemed to arrive before Slim in an instant. “Hey.”

Slim gulped. “H-- Hello, Francis…”

_ That’s adorable, look at him blush… _

“So, uh, could we go somewhere private?” Francis proposed. “I mean, before the others get their shit together and start unpacking. Yeesh, at this rate we’ll be lucky to have an opening act together by tomorrow…”

“Yes,” Slim responded, maybe a little too quickly. “I-I mean, I do have something I want to tell you…”

Francis smirked. “No kidding, me too. Anyway, c’mon, let’s go…”

From the second Francis took one of his friend’s hands to lead him, Slim’s mind was gone, misted over completely with ecstasy and anticipation. _ It was happening, finally happening… _He barely even realized where the ladybug was leading him until they were almost there, through the stalks of grass and into a small clearing, marked by a fallen stalk and a few rocks jutting out from the dirt.

“Yeah...yeah, this looks like a good place.”

He finally released Slim’s hand and turned to face him, taking a deep breath as he prepared himself.

_ Alright, you’ve waited this long, now go ahead, tell him-- _

Francis opened his wings and began to casually hover. "Okay, so, last fall, when we, uh…"

"Kissed?" Slim interjected.

Ah, that moment last fall when a stick bug went to visit his best friend in an anthill’s hospital wing and ended up falling headlong into bliss from his friend--crush?--sealing their lips together as if to show exactly what they had both been missing. And he was right--clearly, had Slim known just _ how _good it would feel to tell Francis, to kiss him like that, he would absolutely have attempted to tell him earlier. Though, not much had admittedly happened between them since then--until this.

"Y- yeah, that too,” Francis replied shakily. “You told me about all the stuff you felt about me, and I… I mean, I wasn't surprised. To be honest, I had kinda guessed that you felt that way. But for a while, I didn't know if I felt the same way."

"And I kinda felt bad for you at first, ya know? Like, this poor guy, he's got a crush on his best friend who doesn't feel the same. But then, when you told me about it…” He gave a small smile. “I started to think, "oh, shit, do I?""

"And the longer you talked about it, the more I started to see that I was pretty sure I did. I liked you and I didn't even know it! How sad is that?" Francis grinned abashedly once more and glanced aside, like he was acknowledging an invisible audience.

"Well... I didn't know it at first, either. Not until you…" Slim trailed off awkwardly, thoughts of the kiss flooding his head once more. At this point he felt like he was never going to fully get over it.

Francis leaned back in midair, crossing his arms, clearly remembering the moment with a different air than the other. "Yeah. Aren't we a pair, huh? We liked each other, but we had no idea…"

Seeing him like that reminded Slim of what he wanted to tell him in the first place.

"Francis…?"

"Uh. Yeah?" Francis asked abruptly.

“I...I’m in love with you. I feel that I have been for a long time, but I never told you because I didn’t know quite what it was. To be with you has always made me feel warm and safe and...complete. And I’ve thought...that if I were to spend the rest of my life with someone...it could only be you.”

Francis stared at Slim, wide-eyed and slightly flushed. After a moment he seemed to become aware of the expression on his face, and attempted to gather himself. He finally looked downward with an embarrassed-looking scowl.

“I don’t deserve you, do I?” he muttered.

Looking at his friend’s face, Slim started to become worried. _ No, no! This isn’t how it was supposed to go... _

“Oh, Francis,” he began softly, “why would you ever think that?”

Francis groaned and rolled his eyes. “No, it’s just--you’re kinda pissing me off right now, alright? You’re so romantic and sweet and you’re--you’re just too good for me…”

At the last word he broke and started to tear up a bit, to Slim’s surprise. The stick bug opened his arms and let his friend in, allowing him to cry soft, angry tears into his body. All of Francis’ resolve had vanished, which it usually didn’t around Slim.

After a few minutes Francis spoke again.

“Did you--did you really mean that?”

“Mean what?” Slim asked.

“That stuff about--that whole speech you gave. Did you really mean all of that?”

_ Oh. That. _

“Of course I meant it,” Slim smiled gently, his arms still curled around Francis’ body. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Francis looked up, then turned his head back down just as quickly, the scowl returning to his face.

“I--I just feel...that you're so out of my league sometimes…”

_ Me? Out of his league? _

“...like, you’re so patient with me and I’m such a piece of work…”

“You’ve never been a piece of work to me.”

Francis stopped in his tracks, looking up at Slim again for a second before gripping the sides of his head and pulling him into a sudden, desperate kiss.

Caught slightly off guard, Slim did a double take before realizing what had happened and returning the favor, letting his eyes close and hugging Francis closer as he kissed him back. And suddenly it was a moment several months ago, that evening on the cusp of fall when two bugs were awash in their own feelings for each other, expressing them desperately, not ever wanting to break free from each other’s embrace.

After a few moments, Francis gently pulled away, still holding the sides of Slim’s face and looking slightly embarrassed, a soft blush dusted across his features.

“Sorry,” Francis muttered. “I guess I should have asked…” He lowered his hands to Slim’s shoulders. “Ugh, look at me, just spilling my guts and crying all over you, and doing stuff like that...you don’t deserve this…”

“Francis,” Slim said firmly. He shuffled his arms so that he was holding Francis in his lower two and cradling his face with his upper two. For a moment the two simply held their gaze.

“If I should ever say that I _ don’t _deserve you, then I must be feeling lower than you are, because I want absolutely no one else,” Slim continued. “I’ve already made my choice. Clearly I deserve you, I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Francis listened, gradually taking in Slim’s words. And settled, slowly, into his realization that no one else would be able to make him feel so peaceful, so...content just by being with them.

He was fine with that, he thought.

“And I-- I wanted to ask…” Slim began nervously.

_ Come on, just ask him--! _

“...if, before a performance, you wanted to, ah, go out sometime…”

Francis let him trail off a bit before smiling and answering.

“...Sure. I’d-- I’d really like that.”

The two sat there, each holding the other and gazing contentedly into their eyes, for a little longer.

“Should we...go back? Before everyone gets started without us,” Slim interjected softly.

Francis chuckled, casually moving to hover by Slim’s side again. “Yeah, don’t want to keep them waiting…”

And the ladybug led his boyfriend back through the forest of grass.


End file.
